Little things add up to big win for South wrestlers

MIKE KUHNS

Friday

Jan 28, 2011 at 12:01 AM

East Stroudsburg South took care of the little things on Thursday night. Willie O'Brien overcame a one-point second-period deficit to beat the Cardinals' Joey Fogle 5-4 at 171 pounds as the Cavaliers held off Pocono Mountain East 33-23 in Mountain Valley Conference wrestling.

SWIFTWATER — East Stroudsburg South took care of the little things on Thursday night.

The Cavaliers also got a big win when the team needed it.

Willie O'Brien overcame a one-point second-period deficit to beat the Cardinals' Joey Fogle 5-4 at 171 pounds as the Cavaliers held off Pocono Mountain East 33-23 in Mountain Valley Conference wrestling.

The Cavaliers also got close victories from Ryan Hennessy (125), Marcus Rushie (130), Nick Musa (135), Chris Gannon (140) and Kyle Gill's pin at 215 cemented the victory for the Cavaliers, who put themselves in contention for a position at the team duals next month.

"You've got to win the close ones," Eastburg South coach Randy Litts said. "You've got to get the bonus points when you can get them. Some guys were getting takedowns at the end to get the majors and those points add up as you get to the end."

The Cavaliers won six straight bouts from 125 through 152 pounds by decision and Eastburg held a 24-7 lead after DP Miller's 6-0 win over Ryan Price at 152.

But at 171, O'Brien strung together an escape and a takedown to win 5-4 over Fogle, putting the Cavaliers in good shape to win.

"It was a big match for Willie," Litts said. "Willie has been working hard. We're trying to get Willie a little bit better in the neutral position and that showed today."

One of the more entertaining bouts was George Bastian's 9-2 victory over Matt Murphy at 145. After being taken down by Murphy early, Bastian turned it on after being poked in the face by Murphy.

"The kid just hit me in the face and it got me mad," said Bastian. "So I said, 'Go out there and get it.' It set me off, so I got ready and went after it."

It wasn't all Eastburg, though.

The Cardinals got an impressive win by James Palys, who took care of Colby Ems, who was wrestling up a weight at 119. Palys turned Ems three times in the second period en route to a 14-0 victory.

The victory was one of few bright spots for PM East coach Chris Potter.

"I'll be honest, 135 and 171 (were key)," Potter said. "We lose 1-0 at 35 and Fogle at 71, I thought we should have won that match and we lose 5-4. That's one that we had to have."

ES South 33, PM East 23

103 — Adam Hennessy (ESS) forfeit.

112 — Dan Johnson (PME) dec. Mason Bryne 5-2.

119 — James Palys (PME) maj dec. Colby Ems 14-0.

125 — Ryan Hennessy (ESS) dec. Mickey Kaiser 6-0.

130 — Marcus Rushie (ESS) dec. Lee Munoz 6-3.

135 — Nick Musa (ESS) dec. Gino Guinta 1-0.

140 — Chris Gannon (ESS) dec. Ahmed Mustafa 9-4.

145 — George Bastian (ESS) dec. Matt Murphy 9-2.

152 — DP Miller (ESS) dec. Ryan Price 6-0.

160 — Eddie Helm (PME) maj dec. Kevin Finn 15-7.

171 — Willie OBrien (ESS) dec. Joey Fogle 5-4.

189 — Blake Smith (PME) pin Brian Treible :43.

215 — Kyle Gill (ESS) pin Celso Clemente 3:59.

285 — Paul Candelario (PME) pin Brian Mbuthia 1:03.

Records — ES South 9-5, 3-1 MVC, PM East 9-7, 2-2.

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